Prep Girls Hoops: Boylan wins sectional title

Thursday

Feb 27, 2014 at 10:25 PMFeb 27, 2014 at 10:25 PM

By Brenda YoungThe Register Star

CRYSTAL LAKE - The Boylan girls basketball team had two hurdles cleared on Thursday.

The Titans defeated Huntley 54-39 to win the Class 4A Crystal Lake South Sectional title. It was the Titans' first sectional win since 2009. Along with the win, Titans guard Jensen Blassage scored her 1,000 career point, finishing with a game-high 16 points.

"It was a great night for us," Boylan coach Paul Perrone said. "We're going to the supers and for Jensen to get her 1,000 career point is great. She is a great guard, who works hard and is a great leader. I am happy for all the kids."

Boylan led 18-14 at the half, but had led 13-4 at the end of the first period.

"We just played a little lackadaisical, but our coach talked to us and we were able to get it turned around," Blassage said.

Thanks to a tough defensive effort in the second half, the Titans (27-4) put themselves into another gear. They would lead by as many as 22 points (41-19) with 2:46 left in the the third period.

"We knew they were going to play physical," Perrone said. "We just had to match their intensity on our end. Our defense was the key. We used a triangle defense and it worked. The girls worked our game plan to perfection."

Huntley (27-6) made a late push to get back into the game soon after the Titans took their 22-point lead. The Red Raiders went on a 9-0 run to pulled to within 13 points (41-28) with 7:04 remaining in the game.

Boylan guard Kayla Steward made a basket to stop the run. She finished with 13 points.

The Red Raiders would get as close as 10 points the rest of the way. Ali Andrews scored 12 points for Huntley.

As the game came to a close, the Titans made sure to get Blassage open for any scoring opportunities.

"We told her that we would help get her points," Boylan's Haley Stull said. "I knew she would get it and when she did, we were excited for her. She's a great player and works hard all the time."

Blassage said she appreciated her teammates.

"It was great," she said. "They got me the ball and I was able to score in the last couple of seconds. It's was a great experience. "

Blassage reached the milestone when she was fouled and went on to convert two free throws with under 30 seconds left.

The Titans advance to play Geneva in the Elgin Judson University Supersectional final at 7 p.m. Monday.